The Harley Davidson XR1200, due to show up in Europe shortly, if not immediately, is showing up on video. Here’s a short walk around and run through the curves. You’ll notice this XR doing things most Harleys don’t, like wheelies, for instance.
Harley, when is this coming to the U.S.?
Video: here
Thanks for the tip Doug!
Related: Harley Davidson XR1200 in Europe
HotRodTroy says
Now that’s a Harley I would buy and ride. I wish that Harley would not assume what Americans sould and would not buy. It would be nice if we could at least do a catalog order for it. Anything would be better than what they offer now.
chris says
WHEN, WHEN, WHEN, will it hit the US market?!?!?!?
Clive Makinson-Sanders says
All american!
That thing sounds great.
P.T. Anderson says
I first heard about this bike about 6 months ago, I think? I’m really… dismayed that with all the other models H-D has on the floor that they couldn’t just slip in one more. Especially with the success that Buell has been having. It’s not like this is a paint job or wheel package away from any other model they sell. Which is the case with a lot they offer these days.
Q: Is this bike actually made in the US or is this something put together by the Europeans?
Q: Is H-D that far out of touch with the Joe average motorcycle rider that DOESN’T ride cruisers or choppers?
Butch Schultz says
Like the MT-01 by Yamaha, the Europeans seem to get all the cool stuff. Maybe the XR would give the air cooled Buells competition in the American market. I’ve owned a couple of the tubed framed models but would consider the purchase of an XR. As far as I’m concerned, It just another reason to dislike HD. Where is the logic in selling an American breed machine overseas and not in this country. HD you suck!
Tom McKenzie says
harley has a lot of nerve telling the people in north america,who actually can and do ride that they ca’nt have this bike. sales figures be damned! i want this bike! is H-D afraid that real riders will somehow corrupt the poser lifestyle?
Clive Makinson-Sanders says
I think butch nailed it. it would take away from buell sales.
Joe says
I dont think it would take away from buell sales. To me its nothing at all like a buell (aside from the identical gas cap). Much more of a street-tracker or cafe than buell’s typical streetfighter stylings.
B.Case says
Are you kidding??? A simple Google conversion tells me H-D is getting $18,820.155 U.S. dollars for every XR1200 sold in Europe. If that’s true, why on earth would they sell it here for less margin??!!
It seems like the best thing an American manufacturer can do right now to offset slow U.S. sales is to sell to Europe.
B.Case says
Actually, correction, the latest pricing is more like 13,600 Euros which is $21,338 U.S. Dollars. For comparison, 2008 1200 Sportsters are selling in the U.S. for around $12,000 U.S. Dollars.
Space Weasel says
Most of that difference is going to be in tariffs.
Ryan says
ooh, I like this topic now.
can someone who knows a little about what the tariffs actually are break down just how profitable this bike is for them?
Dan says
If HD were to sell this in the US, it would go for around $10500. Check out HD UK and compare the price of a 1200 sportster in quid and the same 1200 in USD and you will see that the XR will not be that much more than an XL. I would really like to see this bike here as well but if you remember, HD could not give XLCR’s away in the 70’s. Check out Honda UK and see what variety they Europeans have compared to Honda’s lineup in the US. When these companies try something new, it seems to backfire. Remember GB500’s and NT650 Hawks. They sat around in Honda showrooms and I believe that the most of the GB500’s ended up being shipped to Europe. Now GB’s get more than original MSRP on Ebay. Honda does not even sell Hornets here anymore. I will buy one of these if they sell them here, but I will not hold my breath forever.
MG driver says
I love the street tracker look. Given a few years and some marketing courage on the part of manufacturers,I feel street tracker could be as big a styling catagory as cruiser or sportbike in the US.
John B says
Do they even have Flat Tracks in Europe? HD has a lot of nerve not to offer an “AMERICAN” styled bike to AMERICANS! I too would buy one if they offered it here! I sent a link to this about 8 mons ago, Kept hoping HD Willie G would see the light and sell it here but no instead we get the Rocker and Bad Bones softail variants, choppers are dead look at all of them on ebay, besides the companies going chapter 13. A motorcycle is meant to be driven not to be just a piece of garage candy. BRING IT!
Clive Makinson-Sanders says
I wonder if harley davidsons sales dept is looking at this from an attitude point of view. Meaning, they dont want to upset the bearded chubby chasers they currently cater to. That demographic still turns their noses up at buells, but since it doesnt say harley-davidson on the tank, they dont take it personally. If this “chick bike” ever sold popularly over here, they would have to look over at a quick, nimble, bike with harley-davidson on the tank and they wouldnt be able to scoff at it.
hoyt says
Clive – if HD ever shakes loose of that attitude from the big portion of their “faithful” it will be a breath of fresh air for HD and motorcycling.
How can someone who is interested in motorcycles have the “blinders” screwed on so tight that they have not only a one track mind for a single brand, but actually have a condescending attitude towards models within that brand!? (its not just an attitude towards the Buell, its also towards the VRod line). The worst part is that a large number of these people started riding on other brands, now all of a sudden the HD “crusty” faithful. #^!~’n poser.
The more you think about this topic, the more resentment builds.
Consider the bad experiences people have when they try to buy a Buell. At first, I thought this was the loud voice of a relatively small number of people who are overly-sensitive about the above attitude. But now, I’m starting to read and see more of the bad experiences….
Consider the HD dealerships that put BRAND NEW Buells in the used section of the dealership…there is one in the Seattle area that puts brand new Buells in a completely separate building that is the “Pre-Owned” building to boot. No joke, a first-time visitor to this place drives into the lot, past the “Pre-owned” sign towards the spacious opening of the dealership (a good 40 yards away). They park, walk in…look around, no Buells. Then they are instructed to walk over to the “Pre-owned” building. Mind you….these are riders who may have never considered an HD product until the new Buell came along.
Hhmmmmm, HD sales down, plus a huge new investment in the Rotax Buell, and the HD dealer network is supporting the Mothership in this manner?
What manufacturer would find that a good practice? What OEM would not put that dealership on notice for doing such a thing?
It’s no wonder the bike above is not in the States.
Highspeedhamish says
I think HD is not bringing the bike stateside ( very odd for HD to sell something NOT in the US I agree) because of the new Buell (Rotax engine). That might be slightly in competition with that model and specially on price point. So perhaps they are waiting to get the new Buell sales up before they bring in something that could harm those sales.
You’d think though, that all the HD purists that dont want a japanese looking bike (New Buell) would be all over the new HD like moths to light.
That could be hurting HD’s bottom line..
Sean says
I don’t see the XR and the 1125R as being “competitors”. One is a race-winning sportsbike, with already a reputation for punching above it’s weight. The other is a retro styled flat-tracker that moves like few Harleys have before. I like this bike, and I don’t understand why it isn’t being released in the US. None of the reasons discussed here seem to stack up.
JB says
There is no way I would give up my Buell for the
XR1200 .
Tim says
Just on the topic of “will it pillage sales from Buell”, I live in a market where both the new 1125R and the XR1200 will be on sale in the last quarter of this year/early next. Both are competitively priced with “everything else”, i.e. meaning within 10% at retail of GSXR1000’s, R1’s etc. Basically if you have the money available, (or have the ability to service the debt) then you can pick and choose.
My choice was the 1125R, for better or worse. Without even having ridden one. It was a fine run thing but what swayed me was the new tech motor, and equivalent performance to most anything else on the road. Plus its two thirds the price of a 1098, and cheaper than an 848. Not as gorgeous, but not as single minded either. Now all I have to do is sell a bunch of stuff and wait…..
Phil Salvatore says
Harley dealers still have new, unsold 2006 VRSCR Street Rods on the showroom floor. A dealer in San Diego still had three new ones last time I looked last February. This is a fabulous bike, the first non-BMW in my garage in a quarter century. Quieter and smoother than the R-1200’s I rode, and great handling. No really, it feels more German than some BMW. What is the problem then?
It’s the Harley customer in the US. I honestly generate more hostility from traditional HD riders showing up at the dealer on my Street Rod than I do on one of my Beemers. Some dealers won’t even acknowledge it’s a Harley product. The traditional HD riders dismiss it as “just a crotch rocket”. They shake their heads as if they are ashamed of it.
HD was very anxious to sell that bike to non-Harley riders but they wouldn’t go into a Harley showroom to see the bike. If you talk to some Motor Company people privately at bike shows or road races where Buells are racing, they will tell you the dissappointment with the lack of support from their dealers for that bike. I wouldn’t have considered it had I not bumped into it’s “platform manager”, a German gent, at a bike show and there hadn’t been one outside to ride. That sold me. In the US, Harley will have a very tough time selling a bike like the XR-1200 and I think they know it. They will sell us the Cross Bones instead and probably sell ten of those for every XR-1200 they could sell. Tell you what, if they do sell it buy one and hang on to it, it will be a collector like the old XLCR or the previous XR-1000.
Peter says
I have owned three HD XL 883’s (’00,’04,’06), three Buell’s (’97 S1,’03 XB9R, and currently have an ’08 XB12R), and at least one of each of the following mfg’s: BMW (’07), Triumph (’97,’99,’00,’01,’06), Ducati (’00,’07), Honda (’05,’06), Yamaha (’95,’97,’99), Suzuki (’02,’03), Kawasaki (’01,’06). I am an active consumer, and contact mfg’s when I have something good- or bad to say. I called Buell to tell them about the travesty they were committing with the intro of the unforgivably ugly 1125R… they passed my opinion along. I have also talked to HD cust serv three times about the travesty of not bringing the XR1200 to the U.S. (an absolutely inconceivable thought- a HD to the U.S.?!), but they stand by the claim that this model will not be available in America. Even though it makes me so angry with them, I’d still be first in line to buy one if it did show up here. I guess it’s a sickness…
todd says
to continue slightly off-topic; the problem with the VRSCR and other V-Rods is their hideous frame and dorky headlight. Wait, then there’s that rear fender and radiator housing… I don’t know many people who appreciate their styling. If HD put the VR motor in a traditional frame and another in a true sport frame they would stand to do better. None of this half hearted “crossover” styling. V-Rod designers probably drive Pontiac Aztecs or Dodge Calibers.
-todd
Phil Salvatore says
Hi Peter. You really don’t like the appearance of the new 1125R? Wow. You do know the reasons the radiator shrouds are done the way they are don’t you? Sometimes beauty is as beauty does. Having an inexpensive sacrificial part out there designed to take an impact while saving the rest of the bodywork, as is the case with the shrouds that cover spring mounted and therefor crash resistant radiators, and then working with the insurance industry to keep that bike’s insurance rate down as a result of this design feature is to me some of the most advanced thinking out there.
My understanding from various articles in different magazines and on-line sources is that the XR will make it here eventually, but will be introduced in Europe first. I imagine Harley’s plan is to sustain the model on European sales volume, then offer it here knowing it will attract very few sales. I don’t think any V-Rod model would have remained in production were it not for the bike’s strong European sales. The US sales volume isn’t there. My guess is that HD will be counting on European sales to sustain this model too. For those of us who care we ought to hope that is true so the few of us with a Jones for this bike will have our chance to enjoy it.
Todd, I genuinely love the appearance of my Street Rod. I mounted drag bars and the little black fly screen from the Screaming Eagle V-Rod and absolutely love how the bike looks. I also understand that without the radiator shroud the front wheel completely masks the radiator and the bike will not cool. This info came directly from the German gent who was the platform manager when I asked him about it at that bike show. Again, beauty is as beauty does. Once he explained how the airflow inside that housing maximizes cooling the appearance became secondary. It weighs very little and does not drag when the bike in leaned over on the pegs, so where is the problem?
Shawn Stephens says
Phil,
I have a 2006 VROD and I am looking to get the black fly screen from the Screaming Eagle V-Rod but cannot seem to find it and the Harley Dealer said they do not have one ect… Where did you get yours and do you know where I can get one?
Thanks